Cristiano Ronaldo is not being paid to promote Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid (Image: Getty)
Al-Nassr have strongly denied that Cristiano Ronaldo is being paid to help promote Saudi Arabia’s 2030 World Cup and join Lionel Messi as an ambassador for the country. Reports in France had claimed that part of Ronaldo’s agreement to join Al-Nassr to make him football’s highest-paid player was for the 37-year-old to have his wages doubled for backing Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the World Cup in seven years.
The supposed deal would essentially see Ronaldo earn an eye-watering sum of around £1million a day at £300m per year. It would also see him join forces in a blockbuster pairing with Messi to help promote Saudi Arabia’s bid.
But Al-Nassr have strongly denied any suggestion that Ronaldo’s contract with them includes a special clause relating to the World Cup.
The statement read: “Al Nassr FC would like to clarify that contrary to news reports, Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract with Al Nassr does not entail commitments to any World Cup bids. His main focus is on Al Nassr and to work with his teammates to help the club achieve success.”
The 2022 World Cup was the first time the tournament was hosted in the Middle East as Qatar faced intense scrutiny for the manner in which they secured the vote back in 2010. Saudi Arabia are now hoping to replicate Qatar’s success with a joint-proposal alongside Egypt and Greece.
It would be another first for FIFA as the World Cup has never been hosted in three different continents at the same time. The hosts of the 2030 World Cup will be announced next year at the 74th FIFA Congress.
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The UK and Ireland had originally planned a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, but that has since been abandoned due to their hopes of securing the 2028 European Championships. They’re only competition to host the tournament comes from Turkey after Russia had their bid rejected by UEFA.
Whether Ronaldo competes his Portugal at another major competition remains to be seen with Roberto Martinez confirming he plans to talk with the iconic forward soon. Martinez was confirmed as Portugal’s new manager this week and his first press conference centred around questions on Ronaldo’s international future.
“Decisions are made on the pitch,” he said. “I don’t make decisions in the office. I hope to contact all the players.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is a player that makes the list. He has been in the national team for 19 years. “I hope we can sit down with him and create the best team. It’s a day of great satisfaction, but tomorrow we’ll get down to business.”
Source: express.co.uk
